| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Persuasion by Jane Austen: He spoke and looked so much in earnest, that Anne was not surprised
to see Mrs Clay stealing a glance at Elizabeth and herself.
Her countenance, perhaps, might express some watchfulness;
but the praise of the fine mind did not appear to excite a thought
in her sister. The lady could not but yield to such joint entreaties,
and promise to stay.
In the course of the same morning, Anne and her father chancing to be
alone together, he began to compliment her on her improved looks;
he thought her "less thin in her person, in her cheeks; her skin,
her complexion, greatly improved; clearer, fresher. Had she been
using any thing in particular?" "No, nothing." "Merely Gowland,"
Persuasion |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Cratylus by Plato: human mind.
ii. Imitation provided the first material of language: but it was
'without form and void.' During how many years or hundreds or thousands of
years the imitative or half-articulate stage continued there is no
possibility of determining. But we may reasonably conjecture that there
was a time when the vocal utterance of man was intermediate between what we
now call language and the cry of a bird or animal. Speech before language
was a rudis indigestaque materies, not yet distributed into words and
sentences, in which the cry of fear or joy mingled with more definite
sounds recognized by custom as the expressions of things or events. It was
the principle of analogy which introduced into this 'indigesta moles' order
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Tao Teh King by Lao-tze: supplement deficiency. It is not so with the way of man. He takes
away from those who have not enough to add to his own superabundance.
3. Who can take his own superabundance and therewith serve all under
heaven? Only he who is in possession of the Tao!
4. Therefore the (ruling) sage acts without claiming the results as
his; he achieves his merit and does not rest (arrogantly) in it:--he
does not wish to display his superiority.
78. 1. There is nothing in the world more soft and weak than water,
and yet for attacking things that are firm and strong there is nothing
that can take precedence of it;--for there is nothing (so effectual)
for which it can be changed.
|
